


The Merc and the Barkeep

by ThePyromantic



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: DINLUKE, Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Din is a good dad, Din needs to use his words, Jedi Luke Skywalker, M/M, POV Din Djarin, POV Luke Skywalker, canon divergence - the Mandalorian, din does manual labor, din is a jack of all trades, din is an awkward turtle, luke is avoiding his responsibilities, luke is helpful anyways, luke is trying not to be helpful, luke works fast food, no he doesn't have anything better to do, simps get ready, toro calican is an idiot, very little grogu, what are you? a cop?, yeah I just made the gunslinger episode like 10 times longer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29569479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePyromantic/pseuds/ThePyromantic
Summary: Din is on Tatooine and needs to make money to pay the bills, but really doesn't want to get himself shot tracking down Fennec Shand, so he keeps taking odd jobs. Thankfully the cute and mysterious barkeep can find him as many jobs as he needs until he finally decides to give in and take on Toro Calican's suicide mission.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54





	1. The Barkeep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke is posing as "Ben," a simple barkeep in Mos Eisley when he gets to see something he hasn't for quite some time: A Mandalorian

Beings will say what they will about Tatooine and its people. The barren lands were daunting and lifeless, victims of a conflict long forgotten and the corpse of a world that few even remembered existed, much less mentioned on the surface of Tatooine. To the people who settled the planet generations ago, the natives were savage beasts deserving of slaughter. To the native, the settlers had no right to take what little moisture was left in the sands. For anyone with something to smuggle it was a place to find work, though the death of Jabba the Hutt had destabilized the careful balance of power. For anyone trying to hide, it was the ideal backwater planet to lay low until danger passed.

But for Luke Skywalker, Tatooine was simply home. Well, it had been, once upon a time. Now that the empire had fallen, he was supposed to be training the next generation of Jedi, but even a Jedi Master needed alone time and a place to get away. Luke's just happened to be working as a barkeep in Mos Eisley.

"Here you are!" He said cheerfully, setting another glass in front of a particularly zealous patron. The humanoid grunted a quiet response.

"Hey, Ben, we need another round over here!" Meila, a regular, called to him from the back. Luke nodded and grabbed began filling a pitcher for the party. Geran's youngest son broke in his first dewback and he'd brought all the farm hands out to celebrate.

Luke didn't look up as another being entered the cantina.

"I'll be right with you. Sit where-" his words died out as he finally took the time to glance at his new patron. It was a mandalorian.

"I'm looking for work," the bounty hunter said gruffly. He didn't acknowledge Luke's hesitation. He was probably used to getting strange looks, since Mandalorians weren't exactly common anymore.

Luke recovered quickly, putting on his best customer service face.

"Oh I see. Well, we don't get much bounty work around here anymore since the guild moved out, but feel free to-"

"I don't need guild work. I just need something that pays," the Mandalorian cut him off stoning. Luke could sense his frustration but made sure to keep his face neutral. The Mandalorian didn't owe someone money. It was a different kind of desperation. Was he just out of credits? Certainly a Mandalorian wouldn't have to come to Tatooine to find work. Whatever it was, Luke supposed it didn't really matter to him. He wasn't a Jedi, he was just a barkeep.

"Ben, what's the hold up?" Geran called.

"Just a moment please," he said quietly, nodding to the Mandalorian. The man sighed, but didn't protest. Luke gave him a polite smile and nod before rushing over to the table with a fresh pitcher.

"Who's the merc?" Meila asked, her face flushed from drinking too much once again.

"Merc? What makes you think he's a merc?" Jed cut in.

"A guy looking like that in a place like this? He's a merc for sure," Milan explained as if she had any experience dealing with Mandalorian or mercenaries. "So what did he want?"

"He says he's looking for work. Seems kinda mean though. I think it would be best not to get involved," he answered carefully. He was sure the man wouldn't cause problems, but, knowing how Geran operated, the fewer opportunities for trouble, the better. Unfortunately his words only seemed to intrigue the group further.

"Work huh? Well maybe I'll hire him to put those fences back up around the mating pen. Gila really did a number on 'em the other day," Geran said jokingly. Luke chuckled.

"I'm sure it's not the kind of work he's looking for but I'll let him know." The man raised his glass in a sort of half salute and Luke took his leave.

The jedi casually wove his way back over to the bar. The Mandalorian was still just standing there, ignoring a young man trying to get his attention from one of the booths. Luke didn't even have to try and eavesdrop. The newcomer wasn't very good at being discrete and his swagger would have reminded Luke of Han if he thought the kid could actually back his own words up. He was trying too hard to actually know what he was doing.

"Come on, Mando. A shot like this doesn't come often," the kid whined. Luke could sense his distress, but the Mandalorians annoyance was more over powering. He swung his head to look at Luke again, his face unreadable under the shiny helmet. Even so, Luke could imagine the look he was receiving from underneath.

"Any work yet?"

"Hey, I've been offering you a job all day!" The kid protested. Luke ignored him, giving the Mandalorian a polite smile.

"Well, my friend Geran over there needs help repairing a fence if you're desperate."

The mandalorian didn't answer, but turned to look at the party in the corner. He tossed Luke an imperial credit and got up to walk over. The kid jumped up as well, protesting the whole way.

Luke carefully picked up the credit and rolled it between his fingers. The Mandalorian was certainly desperate. He almost wondered what kind of job the kid had offered him. What could have been so bad that the Mandalorian turned it down? He supposed it didn't really matter since he was just a barkeep, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was all going to come back and bite him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to just be a gift for Dameronz, but I wound up not following the prompt and got really into it, so I'm posting it here. The chapters will be moderately short, but hopefully that will make it easier for me to actually finish the fic.


	2. The Loppy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Din takes on a fence repair job and Calican decides to tag along, much to Din's annoyance.

Din should have taken the other job. He wouldn't complain, since a job was a job, but he should have taken the other one, if only to get the kid off his case.

He’d taken the fence repair job out of spite and hoped it would deter Calican, but the kid had only volunteered to help him. He’d insisted the farmer give Din double pay instead of paying him as well. He was probably trying to butter him up or throw his weight around a little, showing that money was no object for him.

"Come on, Mando. Between the two of us, that assassin is as good as dead."

"You don’t need her dead. You need her alive," Din shot back, hoisting the next post into place. He pushed the displaced sand back into the hole around the post, stamping on it to pack the sand down. He’d never fixed a fence before, and was pretty sure he was doing it wrong, but the farmers didn’t seem to care. They just watched in mild amusement. It was humiliating.

He tried to shake it off as he moved to the next post. Dig, hoist, pack. That was the pattern he’d taken up.

"So you’re not a part of the guild?" Calican continued, following behind Din unhelpfully. He put the shovel down and turned on the boy, who took a quick step back.

"Either help me out, or go away," he ordered. Calican held his hands up defensively, his eyes flickering with fear for a brief moment.

"Alright, alright." He took a step to the side and picked up the next post, but his eyes only left Din for a brief moment as if he was worried the Mandalorian would attack him or run away. Din kept staring until the boy dragged the post to the hole and lifted it up. He wasn’t weak, but he certainly wasn’t cut out for manual labor. Din watched as he brushed the sand into the hole and stamped it down like Din had done earlier. The boy gave Din a wide smile and wiped his face as if he’d done something difficult. "See, I’m a quick learner."

"Then why’s the post falling?"

The boy quickly lunged for the post, barely managing to catch it.

"Whoa!" He glanced up at Din and gave him an embarrassed grin. "Thanks for the head up!"

Din moved on as Calican continued struggling with the post.

"Wait… See, we’re a… A good team," the boy huffed, pushing it back into place.

"Leave me alone," Din warned, enunciating his words very carefully. He grabbed the shovel to make the last hole. He’d been careful to space them all equally so the last post was right beside the small enclosure connected to the pen. All in all, he hadn’t done a bad job.

"You guys ain’t done yet?" A shrill voice called to them. Din sighed and swung to face the female stablehand. Her name was Meli or something. "Man, this thing better be steady, cuz the boy’s would have had this built ages ago."

"Look, ma’am, you’re paying me to do the job, so just let me do the job," Din answered tiredly. Between the locals and Calican, he was getting really tired of people in general.

"Yeah, cut us a little slack. We’ve never done this before!" Calican said defensively. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for my friend here to work in this heat? That’s mandalorian armor he’s got, and it’s not only hot, but heavy."

Din glared at the boy from under his mask, but Calican was either ignoring him or really just that stupid. Mari didn’t answer as she kicked the first post Din had set. She almost looked impressed.

"Well, you certainly set them in deep enough. How bout I go grab you boys some lunch and you can finish up after you eat?"

"No need," Din answered, hoisting the last pole into place. "The sooner I can get this done, the better. Then you can pay me and I’ll be on my way."

"Whoa, hey now, I’d love to have some lunch. I’m sure it would do both of us good after working so long in this heat." Din turned on the boy again.

‘You’ve barely even done anything.’ He wanted to say, but the kid seemed to get the point.

"How bout I bring you some and if you don’t want it, you don’t have to eat it?" Mila offered, but began walking away without waiting for an answer.

"Hey." The girl turned expectantly as Din spoke up. He paused awkwardly, trying to be polite. "I could do with some water… Please…"

"Sure thing!" The girl beamed. Calican wiped his mouth again, studying her as she walked away.

"I’ll tell you what, this planet does not have much to offer, but at least the sand isn’t the only thing that’s hot around here. I might have to come back here after the job if Meila is still available."

Din turned to face the kid again. Oh, that was her name.

"What?" Calican asked with a suspicious grin. "You don’t think she’s pretty too, do ya?"

"Get back to work," he ordered gruffly. The sooner he finished the job, the better.

The fence didn’t need much more work after the main support poles were set up. The broken slats had already been removed and new slats brought in, so all Din and Calican had to do was slide the new ones into place and pin them in. Calican had gotten tired about halfway through though, slowing Din down since he had to give him new instructions every few minutes. Thankfully he was able to get more done when the boy stopped to eat and chat with Meila.

She’d brought him a canteen of water like he’d requested, but he didn’t feel comfortable enough to move his helmet enough to drink. He’d just work through the job and get somewhere private to remove his helmet later. Calican had been right about the heat, but he was used to it by that point. He was dehydrated, but not yet in any danger. By the time he was done, there was still plenty of time left in the day.

"Well, I’ll be. I’ll admit, I didn’t think you’d be able to do it, Mando. They always said your kind was better at fighting than fixing," Geran said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Just pay me and I’ll be on my way."

"Of course, of course, though you really should join us for a drink tonight. We gotta celebrate!”

“Celebrate? Celebrate what?” Geran waved off the question with one hand.

“Does it really matter? I’ll let the other know you’ll meet us there.”

“What about my pay?”

“I’ll pay you at the cantina.” The man gave him a smile, knowing that he was forcing Din to show up. “And if you’re still around, I might have another job for you tomorrow.”

Din held up one hand to protest, but the man just walked away. He sighed, realizing he had no other choice. Well, at least he was getting paid. Though he debated whether it was actually worth all of the trouble. Things certainly could have been worse, but they also could have been better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A loppy is a person employed to do maintenance tasks on a sheep or cattle station.


End file.
